In a standard drawer slide assembly, one drawer slide member is affixed to a furniture frame while a second drawer slide is affixed to the drawer body. A third drawer slide is often provided to provide additional extension of the drawer out from the furniture member. The drawer slides intermesh and slide upon one another as the drawer is pulled out and pushed into the furniture frame. In this manner the sliding motion of the drawer out and away from the furniture frame is facilitated.
These drawer slides are commonly manufactured from stainless steel or another rigid, strong material. To facilitate the sliding action of one drawer slide upon the other, a low friction sliding means is provided. A common approach is to mount rollers on one or both drawer slides for contacting and rolling upon the opposing drawer slide. In this manner, metal upon metal contact of the two drawer slides is avoided and the drawer slides are free to move upon one another in a low friction manner.
Another common approach is to position a long rectangular frame comprising a plurality of rollers on a track between the two opposing drawer slides. This further enhances the slideability of the drawer by providing a sliding surface between the drawers that moves with the drawer slide assembly to provide said sliding surface along the length of the drawer slide. This provides a low friction sliding means without having to place a large number of rollers along the entire length of the slide. A smaller number of rollers mounted to the rectangular frame can slide back and forth with the drawer slides to provide the low friction contact therebetween.
These prior art systems do have drawbacks. Both the fixed rollers and the moveable rectangular slide only provide roller contact between the slides in one direction, perpendicular to the axis of the roller. As such, any lateral shifting of the drawer slides, or a pushing force which is not parallel to the length of the drawer slide, may result in metal to metal contact of the drawer slides, or misalignment and disengagement of the slides. Once the drawer slides become misaligned, further closing force can cause one slide to disengage and damage various components of the drawer slide system.
Another problem commonly seen in drawer slide systems is a jarring force experienced when the drawer is closed with too much force and the two drawer slides collide in the closed position. This can damage the drawer slide and possibly damage the contents of the drawer. Prior art attempts to mitigate this slamming of the drawer include rubber or felt bumpers on the rear of the drawer face to contact the furniture frame prior to the metal to metal contact of the drawer slides, or rubber or plastic bumpers mounted to various parts of the drawer slides. Both of these solutions are somewhat effective, but do not alleviate the jarring which can come from drawer slamming collisions.
As such, there is a need for a roller means for drawer slides which provides a low friction rolling surface between two drawer slides and also protects against lateral movement of one slide relative to the other.
Further, a bumper or shock absorber mechanism to absorb the shock of the slammed drawer that is an improvement over the prior art, is also desired.
Prior drawer slide roller/stopper mechanisms have not combined advantages of a roller mechanism to provide a low friction rolling surface parallel to and perpendicular to the length of the drawer slide with those of a stopper or shock absorbing means that overcome disadvantages of prior art drawer slide rollers or stoppers which fail to account for the jarring and potentially damaging forces experienced by drawer slide systems.
It is to these perceived needs that the present invention is directed.